A unique genre among vintage jewelry collectors is what’s known as the Takahashi bird items. I hesitate to classify these as ‘costume jewelry’ because they truly are an art form. The backstory of the Takahashi birds is just as fascinating as the brooches themselves. The following is a brief summary. Yoneguma and Kiyoka Takahashi were…
It turns out that my unknown/mystery jewelry maker had a presence (either in their own booth or through on-site vendors) at the 1934 World’s Fair in Chicago. This further establishes the heyday of their manufacturing as having been the mid-1930s. Chicago had previously hosted a precursor to what would later be called a World’s Fair;…
I was gobsmacked when I realized that it has been almost two years since I last accumulated enough ‘newfound’ Mystery Jewelry Maker examples to warrant an update post! That is, if one doesn’t count the March 2020 ‘Maybes and Wannabes’ overview. But there are now enough ‘new’ items (17) and one of them was rather…
This fifth and final post in my Chocolate Lover’s Jewelry Box series will take a look at some of the most and least common ‘chocolate-gems’ goodies. Chocolate Quartz® Let’s begin with the most common ‘chocolate’ stone and yes, it’s another descriptive that has been trademarked by LeVian: Chocolate Quartz® In reality, it’s the same stone…
‘Rubies are red, sapphires are blue…. except when they are green, purple, yellow, pink, orange, or chocolate.’ Wait, what? Chocolate?!? Yes indeed, thanks to the marketing gurus, your jewelry box can also contain chocolate sapphires. Who knew? Technically, corundum gemstones are all one big happy family with only two proper names: Red corundum stones are…
The world of vintage costume jewelry often contains mysteries, as my own quest for the elusive 1930s Mystery Jewelry Maker’s identity can attest. One such mystery was recently shared with me by Colleen Newell, who is on a similar quest to uncover the story behind pieces marked ‘Joy.’ Both of us have been trying to…
This next resident of our hypothetical ‘chocolate’ jewelry box is best approached with more than a teaspoonful of caveat emptor caution: chocolate pearls. The most important thing to remember about pearls that are advertised or popularly regarded as “chocolate” is that 99.9% of them have been dyed or bleached in order to achieve that color.…
The words ‘chocolate’ and ‘opal’ don’t usually pair in most jewelry aficionados’ minds – considering that their wondrous play of color is what makes opals so special – but there actually is such a thing. However, they differ in several respects from the more familiar forms of opal. The differences begin with how chocolate opals…
The Chatsworth Lady 